Indian men beat El Salvador to share top position, eves hold Russi

Dresden, Germany, Nov 16 (UNI) International Master Tania Sachdev helped India to a creditable draw against top seed Russia, while her male compatriots' resounding win over El Salvador helped them to remain in joint lead after the third round of the 32nd Chess Olympiad here.

The Indian men scored a thumping 3.5-0.5 win against El Salvador in the open section which kept them in the lead on six match points along with Russia, Armenia, Germany '1', Spain, Ukraine, Norway, England and Romania.

The Indian men will now take on Russia in the next round.

In the women section, Tania made sure that she did not followed her other compatriots as top rated Indian D Harika and Nisha Mohota lost their games against world women's champion Alexandra Kosteniuk and Nadezhda Kosintseva, respectively.

Swati Ghate used her experience to good effect as she overpowered her rated rival Ekaterina Korbut on the fourth board.

However, the other Indian women failed to make an impact and slid down the ladder after getting one point against the Russians.

But top player Koneru Humpy's absence in the Indian squad did not have any affect as Tania looked in great form against Tatiana in a Nimzo Indian defence game.

Capitalising on a tactical error, Tania won an exchange on the 28th move and wrapped the issue in 42 moves.

Hungary, Armenia, China, Serbia, Poland and Georgia share the lead with six points apiece in the women's section while Indian eves are now placed joint seventh on five.

However, the biggest upset came in form third seed China who lost to 19th seed Norway 2.5-1.5 in the open section.

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